“When you’re that close you relive the ghosts from the past, like the final against Bayern," the Spain international said.

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A committed group: “The past is the past and the present is what it’s about now, you want to win like you won in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Nothing changes, the will to win is the same. No-one can doubt the commitment of this squad because it did something nobody else had done before.”

The players: “Obviously no-one is the same as they were six years ago. When you’re a champion you focus on games in a different way, but that doesn’t mean to say that you’re going to do better or worse. That’s life and people aren’t the same as a year ago or sometime in the future.”

The memory of Luis Aragonés: “Luis is present every day, at every training session, in every sentence… In every training session Luis always appears, one of his famous phrases. There isn’t a day when someone doesn’t remember him in the dressing room with his phrases and some of his memories.”

Cesc and Chelsea: “Great players are always good signings. We already know Cesc, he’s a player that knows the competition and was always one of the best players when he was at Arsenal. He’s going to contribute a lot, ball control, arriving in the box, goals... If he feels important, if he feels like a leader as he did at Arsenal, he can set the pace of the team and he’s a player Chelsea don’t have.”

Diego Costa: “Everyone has that hunger. Diego is a strong player that plays well with his back to goal. He can fight, help to move the ball up the pitch when things are not easy with possession; he has different characteristics to the other two players in attack and gives the coach another option.”

Atlético pain: “A fair final? I think it was very cruel, the way it happened. When you’re that close you relive the ghosts of the past, like the final against Bayern Munich. Atlético didn’t deserve that final, football wasn’t fair to the work Atlético had done over the whole season.”